The Malaysian Insider

JULY 16 — History is a reflection of past events from which we can learn valuable lessons; lessons which can guide us to avoid certain pitfalls that befell those in the past. One of the countries with the longest recorded history is China. By reading Chinese history, many valuable lessons can be learned.

If many of our present-day politicians care to read a bit about the history of this particular country and remember the lessons of its history, they would have equipped themselves well as a first step to become wise and great leaders.

From the 17th until the early 20th centuries, China was ruled by the Manchus, a tribe from present-day Manchuria. The dynasty was known as Qing.

Some of the earlier emperors of this dynasty were great rulers. Under the rule of the second emperor Kangxi, third Yong Zhen and fourth Qianlong, the empire reached its zenith and ruled over a vast territory extending from Xinjiang to present-day Mongolia.

However, beginning from the later part of the reign of Qianlong, Qing rule began to see the rise of rampant corruption and self gratification among the officials as well as royalty. This resulted in social unrest and deprivation.

The Manchus practised a dual appointment system in which a Han and a Manchu would be appointed to almost every position in the central government. The Han would do the work, and the Manchu would oversee the Han.

In the 19th century, because of rampant corruption, there was economic stagnation which in turn resulted in social strife, a decrease in food production and starvation of the people.

Many people in the coastal regions, like the provinces of Fujian and Guangdong, left the country to seek a better life overseas, in Southeast Asia and in America. They became the forefathers of many of the present-day Overseas Chinese.

Foreign powers, sensing an opportunity to sell their goods in exchange for goods made in China such as ceramics, tea and silk, wanted China to open its ports to allow trade. Chinese merchants however would only sell their goods in exchange for silver, whereas the West sought to have alternative payment schemes such as opium in exchange for the much sought after Chinese products.

AT that time there was no such organisation like the present-day WTO or GATT. When there was no agreement, force would be used. So when China started to ban opium in the early 19th century, the British sent in their gunboats.

The Opium War, which China lost, resulted in China signing an unequal treaty (Treaty of Nanking) allowing the opium trade and ceding Hong Kong to Britain, besides having to pay a huge amount of “compensation”.

Opium did great harm to China. Many of its people ranging from royalty to high officials to ordinary merchants were addicted, resulting in even more rampant corruption and a very inefficient system of government since everyone would spend a great deal of time each day smoking and enjoying opium.

There was unimaginable poverty and many peasants died. Social strife eventually led to the rise of a rebellion led by a Christian Chinese, Hong Xiuquan.

This rebellion began with the promise of a better life for peasants and its egalitarian ideology promised that all land would be shared by peasants.

The rebellion, with popular support against a regime that was tyrannical, discriminatory, weak and corrupt, quickly spread. The rebels also used the ethnic card and adopted the slogan of “Banishing the Manchus and restoring Ming (Han) rule”.

At its height, the rebellion occupied many provinces south of the Yangtse River. In fact, many of the richer parts of China, especially Jiang Nan including Suzhou and Hangzhou, were under its rule. The rebels occupied Nanjing for 10 years. The leadership proclaimed the formation of a kingdom called ”Kingdom of Heavenly Peace or Tai Ping Tian Guo”and Hong became the first emperor or Heavenly King, when the objective of throwing the Manchus out was not even half achieved.

Initially the leaders of this rebellion adopted certain reforms such as the dismantling of the landlord system .All arable land was confiscated from landlords and distributed to peasants to be shared. Funds taken from the rich were also shared among the poor. Foot binding was banned.

However, after the initial success, complacency set in. Many of its leaders were given the title of “huang” meaning “king”. There were South King, East King, West King and so on. Each became a regional warlord and conflicts among these leaders were common. There was also no proper system of government. In fact the whole region was ruled mainly through its army. Governing was often through the proclamation of certain orders containing religious connotations, proclaiming Christianity over the entrenched Buddhist-Taoist-Confucianist philosophy.

Internal conflicts led to a purge of capable leaders, factionalism and corruption. There was no attempt to rule with an organised government and in the words of the renowned Chinese historian Qian Mu, “no government institution was set up in their 10 years of rule in Nanjing”.

The leaders themselves, including Hong Xiuquan, retreated to a life of pleasure and luxury, and forgot about what they had set up to do initially.

In the end, the Qing government adopted certain reforms and its army was able to turn the tide and slowly recovered all the lost territory and the rebellion was put down.

Why did this rebellion fail when initially it was able to garner such big support and became an almost unstoppable force?

Well, for one thing, once the leaders tasted initial victory, they stopped their advance and forgot about their mission. Instead, they tried to stab each other in the back, quarrelled among themselves, and sidelined those who were capable. Their administrative skill was at best mediocre.

The initial gimmick of having a fair and egalitarian society quickly became rhetoric only when they indulged in self gratification and lived in luxury and comfort, instead of consolidating their forces and conquering the rest of China.

They became as corrupt as the government they set out to replace. Even worse, they failed to put in a reasonable form of government.

All these sound familiar to us Malaysians? After 308, a coalition of forces was swept into power in many of the states in Peninsular Malaysia, where they even won the popular votes. Their momentum would be unstoppable if only they consolidated and tried to rule the states under their administration well.

Instead, after tasting initial victories, complacency has set in. Their administration after a year plus is at best mediocre. But people are still willing to wait and give them a chance. What is beginning to put some people off is their internal rife, among members of the same party as well as among leaders of the different parties that make up the coalition.

After winning many by-elections in the past year, their great momentum has finally ground to a halt at Manek Urai where the win was only marginal.

Instead of thrashing out their differences internally and consolidating their gains, and concentrate on how to run their administration, they are seen to be bogged down in disagreement over petty matters.

Instead of strengthening their cooperation based on a common agenda, and plan to expand their sphere of influence to those parts where their support is not so strong, they bicker like the heavenly kings of the Taiping rebellion, thereby driving wedges into cracks and making them bigger.

Hopefully, those leaders in Pakatan government who had tasted the sweetness of victory and are now living a life of pleasure should not forget about their aim of trying to build a credible opposition force so that ultimately a two-party system can emerge. When there is a real two-party system, either side would be able to achieve the aim of a check and balance if the other side comes to power.

History is for us to learn to avoid past mistakes. Only fools will fail to learn from history. Sometimes, however, when blinded by power and the trappings of position, a clever person can behave like a fool. And when that happens, history is bound to repeat itself.

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